Numero Tres

Well, this probably isn't the best way to make a happy announcement like this, but Emily is expecting our third child in May. She is also in the hospital for dehydration. She is doing fine, and will probably get to come home either tomorrow or Monday. Sorry we didn't get to tell some of you in the way that we wanted to, but we are a little indisposed at the moment.
Emily hasn't eaten any solid food since Tuesday, and she is still very weak.
Thanks to everyone for the calls and concern.
Jon

Ten Things I Like About McCain, or That Would Be Good About a McCain Presidency

1. He is "pro-life." He believes that unborn humans deserve the protection of the constitution.

2. He is a hero. No, he's not perfect, either in his record, or his morality, but he has sacrificed more for his country than anyone I know of.

3. He is more right on taxes than Obama. I say more right, because there are much better ways to tax than our current system. McCain, however, does understand that the capital gains tax rate needs to remain low enough to encourage investment and trading. He is also for untaxing corporations, which is a very good thing.

4. He is more right on spending than Obama. He said last Friday that he will balance the budget by the end of his 4 year term. His proposal to do a spending freeze is hopeful, and I trust him to cut spending before Obama. He has consistently fought against pork bills, and will cut the excesses.

5. He is more right on education. He wants people to have school choice. He wants to encourage good teachers by paying them more and finding the ones that cannot teach a new profession. He would be more supportive of homeschooling and private schools.

6. He is experienced. (This is also a weakness). His international affairs experience is second to none. He has an intimate knowledge of how our government works.

7. A McCain presidency would mean that we would keep a tough reputation in the world, which is probably more imporant than being liked by the rest of the world.

8. A McCain presidency would mean less government intervention in the lives of the citizens, and in businesses.

9. Sarah Palin will be the vice president and not Joe Biden.

10. He's left handed, like yours truly.

Ok, so my last two points were on the light side. I've been off for a few weeks with this economic crisis.

Next I'm going to give critiques of both candidates.

Six Things I Like About Obama or That Would Be Good About An Obama Presidency

Yep, you heard right. I'm going to throw you Dems and Dem sympathizers a bone here and give some positive things about Obama. For the Rs, don't worry the scrutiny will come.

1. He is smart and articulate. No I'm not going to say he's "clean" like Biden. This guy is obviously smart and can present himself very well. He has a great understanding of (most) of the issues and can communicate, defend and attack other positions clearly and effectively.

2. He is a statesman. He lets attacks roll off of him like water of a duck's back. His presence and demeanor are disarming. Obviously this could be a really good thing or a really bad thing, but you have to admit, he is able to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, even if you disagree with him alot.

3. He seems genuine. Whether he really is or not, we cannot know, but if we take him at face value, he really does seem to care.

4. An Obama presidency would display the healing that has happened with race relations in the US. (Obviously I would rather it be healed by a black guy almost being President.)

5. An Obama presidency (like it or not) would probably be better for us as far as our reputation with other nations.

6. He's young and fresh (this is also a negative).

This post was originally 10 things I like about Obama, but I ran out before I got there. I'm starting a series of posts here distilling my thoughts about the candidates for President.

Why Biden Has Nothing to Gain in His Debate With Palin

Because if he wins... he beat up a girl. If he looses... he got beat up by a girl.

The only way Biden will "win" is to come across as nice and a gentleman, and not try to make Palin look stupid. He should have a command of the issues, and win slightly in a very diplomatic way.

Will this happen? I doubt it, he hasn't shown much restraint for saying stupid stuff. He is as likely to gaffe as Hillary (notice I spelled her name correctly this time) Clinton is to be seen in a pant suit.

Palin's work is cut out for her. She must seem Presidential. She must have a general knowledge of the issues that will be discussed and be able to effectively communicate her positions. She must attack Biden and draw him out to hit her back (making him look like a "domestic abuser").

It is possible that this debate will have far more reaching effects than the debates between McCain and Obama. There is a lot at stake for both parties in how these two people perform because they will be one heartbeat away from the presidency.

Final Word (corny alert!)
My hope is that Joe's arguments and philosophy will not a Biden the hearts of the American people and that Sarah's weaknesses will Palin comparison to his.

The Unfortunate Political Situation In Which We Find Ourselves

Phew, I almost ended my title with a preposition.

Contrary to some people's opinion there are thoughtful and principled people in our country. Everyone who has commented on this site is in this camp, let's call us the "intellectual ideologues" (iis). However, there is also a group of people out there that are blown about with every gust of wind in the political landscape. This group, who I will call the "unthoughtful undecideds" (uus), are won or lost based on the rhetoric, and general "feeling" that they get from the different candidates. Because this group (which is between 10 and 20% [at least] of voters) always decides who the President will be, we see the type of smears, fear tactics, and general disrespectfulness that the candidates display toward each other. They aren't doing all of this to win the iis but to win the shallow uus. The iis understand the principles, experience and issues on which the candidates stand, and make their decisions based on those factors. The uus "go with their gut" and are persuaded by the lies and rhetoric of political ads and sound bites.

Unfortunately politicians find themselves in a position where they have to play these people's game because they decide who will have power and who will not. Until we have some kind of voter requirements (like a competency exam) I suppose we will have to allow the least informed, and least intelligent among us to decide who will be the President and wade through the rhetoric and lies (of both sides). I'm sure this wouldn't be a very popular position and certainly wouldn't win friends and influence people, but if you are reading this don't be offended because I'm probably not talking about you.

My Thoughts on the Debate (Quickly)

BO won.
Not in a big way, but he did exactly what he needed to do. Which was show he was competent, be respectful to McCain, and demonstrate having a handle on the issues. He did an excellent job of all three of those things.
McCain accomplished a few things- he demonstrated his experience (and called into question Obama's experience), made a really good point about how Obama's tax plan will not work, and highlighted his conservatism on wasteful government spending and comparing records on that issue.

Obviously, even if Obama had completely wiped the floor with McCain, I would still not vote for Obama, but he demonstrated an excellent ability to allow smears to roll off his back and maintain civility during heavy criticism. He also clearly presented his positions, and defended against McCain, who seemed to get the last word almost every time.

If the McCain that showed up last night shows up at the next two debates, he will lose plain and simple.

I haven't listened to any commentary yet, I wanted to put my thoughts out there before becoming tainted with the spin that is out there.

What do you think?

Update: It has been pointed out that Obama consistently referred to McCain as "John" instead of "Senator McCain" which was disrespectful to some degree, but he probably got away with it in the public. My guess is that most people didn't pick up on that, but time will tell.

Calling all Design Divas!!!

Okay friends, most of you know that I am not very confident in my decorating skills. I am constantly asking my friends to come over and make decisions for me. Well, today I went out of my comfort zone and tried a new thing. I had the opportunity to go to a Hobby Lobby today where florals were 50% off. I also found a pretty red container that was on clearance. My foyer is very blank even though we've been in this house since March. I wanted to add a little color, but I'm not sure it looks right. I also don't know what else to add to the area if this is approved by my viewers. Please comment and let me know what you think and give me advice on what else I should do to this space. Thanks!

My blank space

in the corner?

Or centered on the wall?

Come on Design Divas, don't let me down!

musical cousins

Here are some pictures from the last board meeting. Our cousins from Mississippi were in and the girls had so much fun playing with the boys. Bradley and Addie Leigh are exactly a year apart and play well together. Piper loves playing with babies, so she just loved little Michael. We spent two weeks with them in Florida, and thought it would be Thanksgiving before we would see them again, but what a wonderful surprise we got when they were able to come hang out with us during and after the board meeting.

Piper's storytime with Meemama

I love this one!

Between Two Worlds: Martin Luther King Response to \"You Can\'t Legislate Morality; You Have to Change Hearts First\"

Between Two Worlds: Martin Luther King Response to "You Can't Legislate Morality; You Have to Change Hearts First"

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Why Our Tax System Has to Go!!

Ok, finally a non-partisan (kind of) post about our income tax system.

Here are the reasons we need to trash our current system and replace it with a whole new one, which I will outline in a future post.

1. Our current system is terribly inefficient- We currently pull in approximately $1.7 Trillion dollars a year in income taxes. It costs us about a third of the total revenue to do the accounting, and pay the IRS to bring in these taxes. In other words, it costs us a $1 to pull in $3. This has got to change. 

2. It is so complicated that no one can fully understand it- The IRS tax code has over 600,000 pages. It is estimated that less than 1% of tax returns are perfectly right. When people ask complicated tax questions to accountants the differences in the answers received are always significant. Even when getting a ruling or clarification from the IRS itself, they are rarely consistent.

3. It is used by politicians and special interests to give breaks to their people and tax everyone else. The current system has infinite possibilities for being manipulated so that it has become a tool used by politicians to stay in power.

4. It punishes success and has pushed over $10 Trillion dollars worth of businesses off shores by it's oppressive structure. Entrepreneurs are punished for making more money, hampering their ability to create more jobs. Since it is an income tax, it is flawed from the ground up.

These are the biggest reasons why our current system will not work in the long run.